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Article BROTHERLY LOVE. ← Page 3 of 3 Article ANTIQUITY OF THE THIRD DEGREE. Page 1 of 2 →
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Brotherly Love.
ought we also to love one another , with the charity " that suffereth long and is kind , that beareth all things , helieveth all things , hopeth all things , endureth all things . " We can speak but as it were with stammering tongue , for the love of Christ surpasseth all thought , all understanding . Then only do we begin to know ib when Ave ourselves try to show forth love . In acts of love we
begin to spell our lesson , and more and more our acts of compassion for Chrisb ' s sake , our loving-kindness , our mercies , our alms-deeds , onr ministerings , our snecour of the needy , our gentleness and patience , all the various forms of charity , as they are done in us only by the grace of God , so they lead us upwards to the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day . [ A report of the proceedings of the Prov . Grand Lodge will be found in another page . ]
Antiquity Of The Third Degree.
ANTIQUITY OF THE THIRD DEGREE .
Three Lectures delivered before Lodge Industry ( Mb . 873 ) , at Kotree , in Scinde , by Bro . W . A . BicuiSTOS , W . M . LECTURE III . "Did it ever occur to you that Freemasonry is entirely a Christian institution , and that the story of H . A . B . was got up only a few centuries ago ? . . . . There are several circum
stances which favour the hypothesis . At all events , it has undergone so many alterations to adapt it to the Christian religion , that the original secret history has probably been long lost . If this conjecture be tenable , there can be no doubt that the death of II . A . Ii . is intended to represent the crucifixion of our Saviour , and that the builder , who was smitten was Jesus Christ . " —Letter to Dr . Oliver , quoted in Preston's lllustrat . p . 449 , note ( 17 th ed ) .
BHETHH E-N , —According to the programme I laid down at the outset of my first lecture , this , the third , Avas to be devoted to a comparison between Dr . Oliver ' s " modern " theory of the Third Degree and the ono enunciated in these lectures . Bub I find on overlooking what I have wribben , that the balance of probability in favour of the antiquity of the essence of the Third Degree is so
overwhelming , that I hardly know where the two theories can be compared . A few points , hoAvever , brethren , in explanation . In discussing such matters as we have had in hand , we mustbe careful , to distinguish between conjecture founded on Masonic tradition , and downright historical fact . It Avould not he wise to bring the former largely into our
speculations . Dr . Oliver has appealed to history , and all that I told you , brethren , in my last lecture , is founded on historical fact . Next , we must be careful indeed not to dogmatise on these subjects . The whole of them are involved in mystery ; a veil so thick that the main features themselves are hardly sometimes to be distinguished . They point far away into a dim antiquity ; to
ages of which the Bibles furnishes us with only a few scant particulars . It is neibher safe nor easy , brebhren , to build , as for strength , only wibh materials hoary with a e Looking broadly ab both sides of the subject , it seems to me that were the " modern" theory correct , we should have had an instance of new cloth having been sewn
into an old garment without rending it ; of new wine being put into old bottles without bursting them . Had the Third Degree been invented and incorporated with the ancient Freemasonry in 1717 , I cannot but believe that the old garment would have been grievously torn by internal dissension—of which we have no evidence whatever . _ N " o inherent goodness in the wine will prevent the
bursting of the bottles ; it is therefore idle to say that the Third Degree caught the fancy of the general Masonic world , and that it was adopted with one consent by the whole earth in a few short years . Would nob some brace of a record of its introduction have remained bo us , beyond the contemptuous remarks of Lawrence Dennett ?
Would nob something have come down to us , telling of the earthquake shock of the putting forward of a now degree as part of pure ancient Masonry ? For when we consider the secrecy and silence , the conservatism and hatred of innovation of the Masons of those day , can Ave not see that shoch it must have been ? Would not some veteran have stood up to denounce the innovators ?
Where is the record of this ? Could the degree have been universally received as quietly as we are asked to believe it was ? On the other hand , is nob the probability ovei-whelm ing that our Third Degree is the form in which theancient pagan mysteries have come down to us ? Bros . Drs . Desaguliers and Andersonand the joyous crafts ,
, may all have been very clever men . But do you think that their united talents could have invented the Third-Degree , with all its sublimity and beauty , and have sointerwoven it with the earlier degrees as to fovea one harmonious whole P * The Third Degree , brethren , teachesus all that is most interesting to man . It shadows forth deathcorruptiontho resurrection of the bodyand life
, , , the everlasting . The light of the bright morning star enables us to see these things in the dim grey of the opening dawn of future knowledge , and , bo assured , none other light but that which is from Above . We are enjoined to perform onr allotted task while we can ; faithful to every sacred trust , to follow that straight and undeviabing line of duby laid down for us in the Volume
of the Sacred Law : that man may be ready when called ' to his long home ; ready , ere the silver cord be loosed ,, or the golden bowl be broken , or the pitcher broken at the fountain , or the wheel broken ab the cistern ; ready ,, for the dust shall return to earth as ib was , and bhe spirit shall return to God who gave it . f Need I recapitulate the teaching of the Third Degree with regard to our
duty to our neighbour ? The five-pointed star of the- - Master Mason , its rays issuing from the Most Holy Name , is too well remembered by all of us . Can we forget our duty to our fellow mortals , when we call to mind the glorious rays of charity and love emanating from-Jehovah , the Light of the World ? J Was all this manufacturedbrethren ; made to order ,
, as it were , to fill up a vacancy caused by the bad memoriesof the joyous Crafts ? Suffer me to say a few words more , brethren , whereby you will be enabled to trace the connection between theold mysteries I have told you of , the Third Degree , and the everlasting truth itself . Whatever , brethren , may he the age of the Third
Degree , or its prototypes , of some lessons which it teaches ; us the antiquity , is inestimable . Through all the mysteries of days gone by we find identical currents of thought running ; for instance , the Lost and Found - Something losb through sin and death , not to be found again this side the grave . We all know what man haslost , never to be restored on earth . Another thought . Death must come before Perfection ..
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brotherly Love.
ought we also to love one another , with the charity " that suffereth long and is kind , that beareth all things , helieveth all things , hopeth all things , endureth all things . " We can speak but as it were with stammering tongue , for the love of Christ surpasseth all thought , all understanding . Then only do we begin to know ib when Ave ourselves try to show forth love . In acts of love we
begin to spell our lesson , and more and more our acts of compassion for Chrisb ' s sake , our loving-kindness , our mercies , our alms-deeds , onr ministerings , our snecour of the needy , our gentleness and patience , all the various forms of charity , as they are done in us only by the grace of God , so they lead us upwards to the light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day . [ A report of the proceedings of the Prov . Grand Lodge will be found in another page . ]
Antiquity Of The Third Degree.
ANTIQUITY OF THE THIRD DEGREE .
Three Lectures delivered before Lodge Industry ( Mb . 873 ) , at Kotree , in Scinde , by Bro . W . A . BicuiSTOS , W . M . LECTURE III . "Did it ever occur to you that Freemasonry is entirely a Christian institution , and that the story of H . A . B . was got up only a few centuries ago ? . . . . There are several circum
stances which favour the hypothesis . At all events , it has undergone so many alterations to adapt it to the Christian religion , that the original secret history has probably been long lost . If this conjecture be tenable , there can be no doubt that the death of II . A . Ii . is intended to represent the crucifixion of our Saviour , and that the builder , who was smitten was Jesus Christ . " —Letter to Dr . Oliver , quoted in Preston's lllustrat . p . 449 , note ( 17 th ed ) .
BHETHH E-N , —According to the programme I laid down at the outset of my first lecture , this , the third , Avas to be devoted to a comparison between Dr . Oliver ' s " modern " theory of the Third Degree and the ono enunciated in these lectures . Bub I find on overlooking what I have wribben , that the balance of probability in favour of the antiquity of the essence of the Third Degree is so
overwhelming , that I hardly know where the two theories can be compared . A few points , hoAvever , brethren , in explanation . In discussing such matters as we have had in hand , we mustbe careful , to distinguish between conjecture founded on Masonic tradition , and downright historical fact . It Avould not he wise to bring the former largely into our
speculations . Dr . Oliver has appealed to history , and all that I told you , brethren , in my last lecture , is founded on historical fact . Next , we must be careful indeed not to dogmatise on these subjects . The whole of them are involved in mystery ; a veil so thick that the main features themselves are hardly sometimes to be distinguished . They point far away into a dim antiquity ; to
ages of which the Bibles furnishes us with only a few scant particulars . It is neibher safe nor easy , brebhren , to build , as for strength , only wibh materials hoary with a e Looking broadly ab both sides of the subject , it seems to me that were the " modern" theory correct , we should have had an instance of new cloth having been sewn
into an old garment without rending it ; of new wine being put into old bottles without bursting them . Had the Third Degree been invented and incorporated with the ancient Freemasonry in 1717 , I cannot but believe that the old garment would have been grievously torn by internal dissension—of which we have no evidence whatever . _ N " o inherent goodness in the wine will prevent the
bursting of the bottles ; it is therefore idle to say that the Third Degree caught the fancy of the general Masonic world , and that it was adopted with one consent by the whole earth in a few short years . Would nob some brace of a record of its introduction have remained bo us , beyond the contemptuous remarks of Lawrence Dennett ?
Would nob something have come down to us , telling of the earthquake shock of the putting forward of a now degree as part of pure ancient Masonry ? For when we consider the secrecy and silence , the conservatism and hatred of innovation of the Masons of those day , can Ave not see that shoch it must have been ? Would not some veteran have stood up to denounce the innovators ?
Where is the record of this ? Could the degree have been universally received as quietly as we are asked to believe it was ? On the other hand , is nob the probability ovei-whelm ing that our Third Degree is the form in which theancient pagan mysteries have come down to us ? Bros . Drs . Desaguliers and Andersonand the joyous crafts ,
, may all have been very clever men . But do you think that their united talents could have invented the Third-Degree , with all its sublimity and beauty , and have sointerwoven it with the earlier degrees as to fovea one harmonious whole P * The Third Degree , brethren , teachesus all that is most interesting to man . It shadows forth deathcorruptiontho resurrection of the bodyand life
, , , the everlasting . The light of the bright morning star enables us to see these things in the dim grey of the opening dawn of future knowledge , and , bo assured , none other light but that which is from Above . We are enjoined to perform onr allotted task while we can ; faithful to every sacred trust , to follow that straight and undeviabing line of duby laid down for us in the Volume
of the Sacred Law : that man may be ready when called ' to his long home ; ready , ere the silver cord be loosed ,, or the golden bowl be broken , or the pitcher broken at the fountain , or the wheel broken ab the cistern ; ready ,, for the dust shall return to earth as ib was , and bhe spirit shall return to God who gave it . f Need I recapitulate the teaching of the Third Degree with regard to our
duty to our neighbour ? The five-pointed star of the- - Master Mason , its rays issuing from the Most Holy Name , is too well remembered by all of us . Can we forget our duty to our fellow mortals , when we call to mind the glorious rays of charity and love emanating from-Jehovah , the Light of the World ? J Was all this manufacturedbrethren ; made to order ,
, as it were , to fill up a vacancy caused by the bad memoriesof the joyous Crafts ? Suffer me to say a few words more , brethren , whereby you will be enabled to trace the connection between theold mysteries I have told you of , the Third Degree , and the everlasting truth itself . Whatever , brethren , may he the age of the Third
Degree , or its prototypes , of some lessons which it teaches ; us the antiquity , is inestimable . Through all the mysteries of days gone by we find identical currents of thought running ; for instance , the Lost and Found - Something losb through sin and death , not to be found again this side the grave . We all know what man haslost , never to be restored on earth . Another thought . Death must come before Perfection ..